Wednesday, October 31, 2018

(Tri-Cities, WA) Deadlines have been set for a popular
Washington renewable-energy incentive program that is nearing the maximum
funding level and is expected to meet the incentive limit by June 2019.Although funds may be exhausted at any time,
Washington State University has notified utilities that customers installing
residential scale solar projects have until February 14, 2019 to apply for the
State Incentive Program.After that
date, customers will be put on a waitlist and applications will only be
processed if funds are available.This
is due to the overall program nearing the state funding limit of $110 million,
not each utility’s specific funding limit.As of Oct. 17, 2018, around $95 million of the funds had been reserved
either through application reviews already underway, existing contracts, or
project certification or precertification.However, there is a strong possibility that funds will be exhausted
before the Washington State February 14th deadline.

Smaller projects, with capacities up to 12 kW (residential
scale) or greater than 12 kW (commercial scale), must be installed and pass a
final electrical inspection by Jan. 31, 2019, and then apply for incentive
payments by Feb. 14, 2019. Application submittals or inspections after these
dates will be placed on a waitlist and processed only if funds are available.

The two separate procedures and deadlines were established
by Washington State University’s Energy Program, which administers the
incentive program, to fairly allocate the remaining funding among the project
categories.

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

(Olympia, WA) – One week from today voters in Washington
state will decide on a ballot measure that could make their state the first in
the nation to require polluters to pay a fee on carbon pollution. But before
voters head to the polls, a showdown is unfolding between grass-root
environmental activists — who have the backing of billionaires like Bill Gates
and Michael Bloomberg — and the oil and gas industry that has raised about
twice as much to defeat the ballot initiative known as I-1631.

The fee would start at $15 per ton of carbon dioxide in 2020
and increase by $2 per year — plus inflation — until 2035. Seventy percent of
the funds raised under the fee would go to pay for "clean air and clean
energy" projects, 25 percent for "clean water and forest"
projects and 5 percent would help communities adapt to climate change impacts,
Pro's Anthony Adragna reports, with estimates suggesting I-1631 could generate
$2.3 billion over the first five fiscal years.

Backers of the ballot measure have raised $15.2 million with
the help of big-name donors like Gates and Steve Jobs' widow Laurene Powell
Jobs, Anthony reports. But they are facing an opposition campaign that has
raised nearly $30 million almost entirely from oil and gas companies, including
BP America, Phillips 66 and Koch Industries. Opponents say they worry the funds
raised by the carbon fee would not be spent effectively but could increase
costs for low-income consumers.

One statewide poll from this month put the ballot initiative
on course to pass with support of 50 percent of voters versus 36 percent
opposed. "We believe strongly that the policy is built to reduce emissions
and be effective and that it covers the economy-wide emissions in a reasonable
and effective approach," Mike Stevens, state director for the Nature
Conservancy, said in an interview. "This is a carefully constructed policy
that very carefully evaluated the issues of exemptions and public oversight."

Monday, October 29, 2018

(Washington, DC) – State ecologists on the West Coast say
there is a new ‘season,’ akin to wildfire season: The time of year in which
falling oxygen levels on the seafloor kill off commercial fishermen’s catches.

"We can now say that Oregon has a hypoxia season much
like the wildfire season," Francis Chan, co-chair of a California task
force tracking the growing problem known as hypoxia, told NPR on Sunday.

It’s become a regular danger: "Every summer we live on
the knife's edge and during many years we cross the threshold into danger –
including the past two years," Chan said. "When oxygen levels get low
enough, many marine organisms who are place-bound, or cannot move away rapidly
enough, die of oxygen starvation."

The presence of warmer water off the U.S. Pacific Coast,
attributable to global warming, is causing oxygen levels on the seafloor to
disappear, killing off the crabs and other sea creatures that commercial
fishermen rely on.

Feds still plugging away on climate under Trump: The Commerce
Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is funding
research to help policymakers understand the problem amid rising global
temperatures, according to its website.

“Changes in both global and regional climates have the
potential to make coastal and marine ecosystems even more vulnerable to hypoxic
conditions,” says the agency. NOAA's coastal climate change program is
conducting interdisciplinary research to understand the relationship between
ecosystem function and climate change, it says.

Monday, October 15, 2018

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The U-S Senate skipped town Thursday
until after the election — leaving FERC nominee Bernard McNamee to wait for his
turn before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. McNamee, the Energy
Department's policy chief, had been scheduled to testify at his confirmation
hearing on Tuesday, less than two weeks after President Donald Trump tapped him
for the fifth FERC seat. Democrats and consumer watchdogs balked at the speedy
timeline for McNamee, a controversial pick thanks to his involvement in the administration's
efforts to prop up lagging coal and nuclear power plants. But that hearing is
likely to be rescheduled for some time in November now that senators are back
to the campaign trail.

McNamee had been scheduled to share the witness table with
Rita Baranwal, Trump's pick to lead DOE's nuclear energy office, and National
Park Service director nominee Raymond David Vela. Committee aides did not
respond to requests for comment Thursday night. It remains to be seen whether
this delay prevents McNamee from being confirmed this year, as Republicans
would like to see.

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Shortly after a bitterly divided Senate
confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell scheduled
a vote today at 5:30 p.m. for a broad water resources infrastructure package S. 3021 (115) . The
bill, America's Water Infrastructure Act, would authorize a slate of new Army
Corps of Engineers port, levee and ecosystem restoration projects, and
reauthorizes the Safe Drinking Water Act for the first time in two decades.
Look for the measure, which passed the House by
voice vote, to attract northwards of 85 votes. The leaders of the Environment
and Public Works Committee — Sens. John Barrasso and Tom Carper — told
ME last week to expect about a day of debate before a final vote.

McConnell also filed cloture on
the nomination of Jeffrey Bossert Clark to be assistant attorney general in
charge of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.
That move sets up a likely vote on that nomination later this week. The
administration first tapped Clark for the role in June 2017 and a coalition of
industry groups urged his confirmation back
in June.

Thursday, October 4, 2018

(WASHINGTON,
DC) -- President Donald Trump intends to nominate Bernard McNamee, the head of
the Energy Department's policy office, to take over Rob Powerlson's seat at
FERC, the White House announced Wednesday. McNamee played a crucial role in
devising last year's proposed rule to bail out coal and nuclear plants struggling
in the nation's power markets, which FERC shot down in January. If confirmed,
he would also have a crucial vote on whatever DOE puts forward next. FERC
Chairman Kevin McIntyre welcomed McNamee's nomination, which would return the
commission to full strength. "He is eminently qualified for the job, and I
look forward to serving with him," McIntyre wrote on Twitter.

Industry is jittery: In principle, FERC's regulated
industries prefer a full slate of commissioners to keep the business of the
agency moving, but natural gas, renewable, and some electric power groups have
spent months battling the Trump administration's attempts to intervene on
behalf of coal and nuclear. "The industry is more than well aware of
Bernard McNamee's rumored ties to helping craft the Department of Energy's
NOPR, which FERC rejected last year," said one industry source opposed to
the bailout. "We look forward to his confirmation hearing to learn more on
his views on the role of competitive markets in supporting a level-playing
field, and expect members of the Senate Energy Committee to make this a central
point in confirming his nomination." Dena Wiggins, who leads the Natural
Gas Supply Association, said her industry is "keenly interested in seeing
FERC continue its work to support competitive markets as well provide a timely
and thorough review of proposed pipeline projects."

Green groups concerned: Both Sierra Club and the
Natural Resources Defense Council were out with negative reviews of McNamee's
nomination. "FERC has a longstanding commitment to fuel-neutral
regulation, but Mr. McNamee's past writings and career track record suggest
that he would seek every opportunity possible to support fossil fuels,"
John Moore, director of the Sustainable FERC Project housed within NRDC, said
in a statement. "He even went so far as to state in an op-ed (The Hill)
that fossil fuels 'dramatically improve' the human condition."

Start the clock: Once the White House
officially sends McNamee's paperwork to the Senate, the Energy and Natural
Resources Committee can schedule his nomination hearing. The math on the
committee works in his favor — there's no obvious reason for Republicans to
oppose him, and Sen. Joe Manchin is likely to vote for him too. But, for the
moment, McNamee is riding solo when FERC picks typically move in bipartisan
packages, leaving the timing around his confirmation uncertain. Democratic
Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur's term ends next year, so the White House could
roll out a new Democratic nominee (or renominate LaFleur herself) for that
spot. Otherwise, McNamee may be waiting a while before he takes his seat at
FERC. Oh, and there's an election in a few weeks that could throw a wrench into
things, too.

(PORTLAND, OR) – The
Bonneville Power Administration paid its 35th consecutive U.S. Treasury payment
today. This year’s $862 million payment brings BPA’s cumulative payments to the
Treasury during those 35 years to over $29.8 billion.

“This is a significant
milestone that demonstrates BPA’s ability to meet all of its financial
obligations on an ongoing basis, regardless of changing conditions and
markets,” said Michelle Manary, BPA executive vice president and chief
financial officer. “It’s also important because it provides a full and timely
payment for the benefit of U.S. taxpayers.”

The Treasury payment is
significant because it’s BPA’s lowest priority payment and is made only after
all other financial obligations are paid in the fiscal year. BPA sets its rates
to maintain an annual 97.5 percent probability of making this payment.

This year’s payment includes
$569 million in principal, $226 million in interest and $27 million for
irrigation assistance, which BPA provides to help irrigators repay their share
of certain Reclamation projects.

BPA applied $93 million of
credits toward this year’s Treasury payment. BPA received most of this credit
under a section of the Northwest Power Act as reimbursement for the non-power
share of fish and wildlife costs it pays annually.

In addition to the U.S.
Treasury payment, BPA paid operations and maintenance expenses for the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service projects directly funded by BPA. This direct funding amounted to $421
million in fiscal year 2018.

BPA is a self-financed power
marketing administration that receives no annual appropriation funding from
Congress. Instead, BPA primarily recovers its costs through revenues from the
sale of electric power and transmission services.

About Me

Joel Myer works at an electrical utility in Washington State.
Prior to his current employment, he worked for nine years at the City of Shelton as Special Projects Coordinator.
In 1992, Joel served a three-month term as an appointed Mason County Commissioner. As far as it is known, he still holds the record for the shortest term for a county commissioner in Washington State.
From 1991 through 1992 Joel worked with Washington State University Cooperative Extension, where he conducted an extensive study of the special forest products industry and its economic value to the Pacific Northwest.
From 1980 to 1991 he was News Director at KMAS Radio in Shelton.
Joel is a 1991 graduate of the Evergreen State College, where his focus of study was economics.
Joel Myer is one of the 2018 award winners, Foundation for Water & Energy Education Haiku Contest.
He has been teaching himself to play the ukulele (with limited success) since 2003.